In popular parlance classical music is a type of music that can include anything from what is considered the modern period and includes the classical periods. It works for the layman and if it ain’t baroque then I say don’t fix it.
Marc
Perhaps we should use “Classical” to define the period between 1780 and 1820 and “classical” to indicate orchestral or symphonic music for the purpose of discussion in this thread.
:rolleyes:
I swear to Beethoven this post wasn’t here when I began the above.
A couple of mentionables:
Ralph Vaughn-Williams, Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis 1909; Sinfonia Antarctica, 1948
Gustav Holst, The Planets, 1916
Shostakovich - 5th, 7th, 10th symphonies, 8th quartet and adaptations thereof. Probably lots more that I don’t know. These stand head and shoulders above everything composed since Dvorak died IMO.
Enigma Variations
Arvo Paert (should be an umlaut)
(had to look up the dates)
Mahler - Kindertotenlieder and the 5th and 6th symphonies.
Sibelius violin concerto - the big exception to the post above. One of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written. Search for the Oistrakh recording on youtube.
Ennio Morricone comes to mind.
You guys, you’re just too conservative. How about that wacky Rachmaninov chap?
If we’re going to be picky, ‘art music’ is a dreadful term, being an implicit denigration of all other musics as not worthy of being considered artistic.
There are two different meanings of ‘classical music’, and which is meant is almost always perfectly clear from context.
The famous Adagio in G minor, usually attributed to Albinoni, was actually composed by musicologist Remo Giazotto and published in 1958. Giazotto based it upon a fragment supposedly from one of Albinoni’s church sonatas.
Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 (1973 ?)
Steve Reich’s Four Organs (1960s)
Philip Glass choose listen/watch for a generous selection of streaming works. The Violin Concerto Prelude To Akhnaten is a musical perpetual motion machine matched only by Bolero.
1976 for that.
Also Gorecki’s Miserere - startlingly beautiful.
Under the looser definitions described above, I don’t see why the full version of Howard Shore’s Lord Of The Rings soundtrack isn’t a great piece of classical music.
And the Schindler’s List soundtrack is an awesome,complex,multilayered piece of composition, fatally scarred for me by the fact I can’t listen to it without crying.
Oh, God, yes! I came into this thread specifically to mention this piece. The heartwrenching pain of it is just so beautiful (the “happy” part of it was used in the Fireman’s Fund commercials after 9/11 where the firefighters had to tell the wife that her husband had been killed in the line of duty).
John Adams has also done some good stuff, as well as a fellow by the name of Leonard Bernstein.
LOL, all depends on your definition of classical music.
Apocalyptica seriously prods buttock. They do their own music and have a killer cover to hall of the mountain King I am particularly fond of their piece Cochka.
Keep in mind that our classical was essentially the past’s pop music. It was what people went to concerts to hear … X composer’s newest piece.
Almost all music [exxcept some experimental pieces and some of the wierder forms of electronica and metal] have the same components, people have come to expect a melody line, and a rhythem line, a beat … so pretty much every form of music has the same components. It really doesnt matter if it is played on a full orchestra, a drum, 2 guitars, keyboards and bass, or 4 cellos and a drum kit. We just classify certain types of sounds ‘classical’ ‘country’ ‘rock’ and ‘wtf is that noise, turn it off and get off my lawn’.
As you can tell, I will listen to almost anything and decide if I like it or not. Apocalyptica plays music ranging from Halls of the Mountain King to Rammstein’s Seeman with Nina Hagen on vocals…
Nobody’s yet mentioned Puccini or Richard Strauss. Also, Benjamin Britten, Luciano Berio and György Ligeti. The latter two may not be everyone’s up of tea, but I believe they have to be included in any serious discussion.
And, the Classical period was 1750 to approximately 1825. The end is a bit fuzzy, but Bach’s death is pretty much universally considered the end of Baroque and the beginning of Classical. Let’s at least try to get that right.
Salvador Bacarisse Chinoria and Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre are both very high on my list of Classical composers, along with quite a few of the aforementioned of course.
I agree with the opinion that some movie soundtracks could be considered as good as music written by composers mostly known for “classical” music. Rent a copy of the movie “Laura”, and see how the theme (by David Raskin) works its way throughout the whole movie, and really sets the tone. You could play the score alone, and feel the emotion of each scene without ever having to watch it.
And, while Leonard Bernstein was mentioned, let’s not forget the equally talented Elmer Bernstein, who cut his teeth scoring bad “B” movies, and later, many Broadway musicals and Hollywood blockbusters. However, for a great introduction of his music, search out “TOCCATA FOR TOY TRAINS” - intriquing short, wonderful score.
Also, I’m partial to Charles Ives, who lived near me in Danbury, CT, and Leroy Anderson, who lived right here in the same town I do now (Woodbury, CT - I can see his house from here, and I run into his wife once in a while at the market).
Olive